27/12 – Park Yuchun proving himself as an accomplished ‘actor’ easily leading a romantic-comedy

JYJ member and singer Park Yuchun was served the opportunity to grow a step as an actor through ‘The Girl Who Sees Smells’ this year. He has proven the fact that he is an actor who easily accomplished the part of a romantic leading male now.

Park Yuchun acted as Choi Mugak, a detective who is devoid of his senses, in SBS drama ‘The Girl Who Sees Smells. Choi Mugak loses his younger sister in the drama, holds out without eating or sleeping for 20 days, and blacks out. He acquires the disorder ‘analgesia’ after returning to consciousness after 6 months. Due to this, he is a person who cannot feel in any way, even when eating a meal or getting hit by someone. There is no taste and no pain.

All the while through various works from dramas ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’, ‘Miss Ripley’, ‘Rooftop Prince’, ‘Missing You’, up to ‘Three Days’; Park Yuchun has done comedies and also acted in romances; which he goes the opposite extreme to be serious. However he leaves us with unsatisfactory feelings, taking to him as a different leading actor in each and every work he does.

But through ‘The Girl Who Sees Smells’, Park Yuchun has shown his own true worth properly. His acting synergy became steady as he got more natural by the sum with actors. In particular even though there was the presence of Namgoong Min acting the villain role, he lent dramatic interest in presenting a lot of tension. In addition he showed a more grown-up image working alongside with a leading female as her lover. He flaunted lovey-dovey charms with Shin Se-kyung. Through this, he raised expectations toward him playing an active role to watch for in a future romantic-comedy.

All the while Park Yuchun has done serious and heavy acting mainly in ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’, ‘Miss Ripley’, and ‘Three Days’. Although he did do light acting in ‘Rooftop Prince’. But there was a side of him that had not demonstrated his appeal in a romantic-comedy properly.

Furthermore the character in ‘The Girl Who Sees Smells’ is different from the characters Park Yuchun has acted in a while. Since it was a persona who goes the opposite extremes, he needed an analysis of a complete character than any character ever before. Even then, Park Yuchun was light all he wanted in ‘The Girl Who Sees Smells’, but be as it may he covered his own color onto a solid character who’s not heavy to no end at all.

For the police investigation scene, in working with Namgoong Min, he played a role that heightened the drama’s tension with a serious expression that comes out on his straight appearance and with a lower voice. On the opposite, in collaborating with Shin Se-kyung, he portrayed a comic-romance. He was not afraid of acting that would destroy his image –where he makes bizarre expressions and, of course, uses a bald wig–.

On this, even to a particular person who can lose the balance of a character nearly, he has immersed himself into a character skillfully and not lost his balance. Thus why the favorable reviews about him have lasted.

It has been 5 years since Park Yuchun made his drama debut. Everyone who stuck out the challenge as an actor from their debut as a singer early on, has fallen to the controversy of their acting ability, be as it may. But Park Yuchun has not been an actor who is stuck in a rut for 5 years. He grew every time he took up one work after another work and as a result, burst out in acting convergence built up over all the while and smoothly unraveled it each time.

Park Yuchun has not been found outside in public with a work since ‘The Girl Who Sees Smells’ this year. The movie ‘Lucid Dream’ is the reason, since it had cranked-up last July and its opening date has not been decided up to now. So therefore it is just regrettable deep down that we cannot see outside a work the work of Park Yuchun, an actor who is growing gradually, little by little.